Sheet-feeding apparatus



Feb. 25, 1930.

J. A. JoHNsQN E-r AL SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS original Filed' Nov. 1o,A1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 (ye WCZfaZozers v mm Q QNNNNHLVNNM mmw , www.

Feb. 25, J. A. JQHNSON ET AL SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov.lO, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb- 25, 1930. J. A. JoHNsoN 'Er AL SHEETFEEDIN'G APPARATUS Original Filed Nov. 10. 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb.25, 1930. J. A. JOHNSON Er AL l,748,57? v SHEET FEDING APPARATUSOriginal Filed Nov. 10.- 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 fij d A l Feb-.- 25',1930. JQ'A. JoHNsoN ET AL SHEET FEEDING APPARATUS Original Filed Nov.10, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented Feb. 2.5, 1449-30 UNITED STATESPATENT ori-ICE JOSEPH A. JOHNSON, DECEASED, LATE OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,BY MARK M. HENNESSY, EXECUTOR, OF LA GRANGE, ILLINOIS, AND GEORGE W.QHALMERS, F SUMMIT, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS T0 INTERNATIONAL PATENTSDEVELOPMENT COMPANY, A

CORPORATION OF DELAWARE SHEET-FEEDING APPARATUS Original applicationiiled November 10, 1924, Serial N'o. 749,088. Divided and thisapplication led July 9, 1927. Serial No. 204,617.

Thisinvention relates to automatic sheet feeding machinery andtheprimary object of the invention is to provide new and improved sheetfeeding mechanism, adapted for example, to lift metal sheets lfrom apile ouf sheets and forward them to a printing press or other apparatus,the improvement consisting in certain novel mechanisms whereby thesheets are lifted from the pile one by one and moved to any desiredplace, for example to the usual sheet feeding mechanism of a printingpress; and in the provision of a holder for the stack of sheets which israised automatically as the sheets are removed from the stack bymechanism controlled by the sheet liftingmeans so that the top sheet ofthe stack is always within the range of movement of the liftingmechanism. The invention consists, furthermore, in certain novelfeatures of construction and arrangement shown in the drawings and to behereinafter described and claimed, the specific objects of which willbe` referred to in the following g specification descriptive of apreferred em-v bodiment of the invention.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the sheet feedpress towhich the sheets are fed..- Y

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the machine, with certain parts insection, showing the end of the machine remote from the printing press.

Fig. 3 is a plan view which is incomplete, so far as the table isconcerned, over which the sheets are forwarded. p

Fig. 3a is a sectional viewon line 3 3 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4 4. of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view) on line 5-5 of Fig. 2. I

Fig. 6 is afragmentary view, in side elei vation, of the sheet liftingdevice.

tional view on a plane indicate Fig. 7 is a detail view in perspectiveof one of the parts of the sheet lifting device. Y

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary lon itudinal secby line8f-8 on Fig. 2, butshowing the support for the -pile of sheets in its lowermost position.,l

' 53 with a lever 54 fixed to the rock s Fig. 9 is a sectional view online 9-9 of' Fig. 2.

Fig. 10 is adetail view in side elevation of one of the sheet forwardingfingers.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary view in side elevation with certain parts insection of one of the operating cams of the machine; and

Fig. 12 is a similar view of an eccentric for imparting movement tocertain parts of the sheet feeding mechanism.

Referring to the drawing, designates the printing press to which thesheets are fed, the machine being shown fragmentarily, and 26 the tableover which the sheets are moved to the press by any suitable form offeeding mechanism. This mechanism forms no part of the invention and abrief description of it will suffice. It comprises rollers 27, 27 fixedto a shaft 28 having bearings in arms 29, 30 rigidly secured to a rockshaft 31 on which is a loose pinion 32 meshed with a pinion 33 fixed toshaft 28. Pinion 32 is driven `by a ear 34 on a shaft 35 provided alsowith a. beveled gear 36 meshing with a beveledgear 37 on a shaft 38driven from a gear 39 on the main shaft 40 of the printing press by thefollowing train: gears 41, 42, 43 and beveled spring 46, by means of acam 47 4on a shaft 48 driven from the main shaft of the printing press bgear 49, a bell-crank 50 being provided W ch is pivotedon a fixed shaft51 on the frame of the printing press and carries at one end a roller 52bearin on cam 47 and its other end being connectedg a link aft 31. Afterthe sheets have been moved across the table by operation of -rollers 27they fare picked up by a set of fingers 55 (FigilO). which operatethrough slots 56 inthe table 26 to engage the rear edges of the sheets,these fingers being secured to a shaft 57 on a carriage 58 which slideson rods 59 beneath the table, reciprocating movements being imparted tothe turningon shaft 51, and provided with a roller 61to operate in thecam slot of a box cam ing machine showing a part of the printing gears44, 45. Shaft 31 is turned to oscillatekl esl carriage by bell-crank 60,also y of the bell-crank 60 being pivoted to a link 63 adjustablyconnected at 64 to the carriage 58. This much of the apparatus shown isof known construction.

The object of this invention is to provide mechanism for lifting thesheets one by one from a stack of sheets and moving them across table 26until their forward edges are engaged by the feeding rollers 27 As is'customary with apparatus of this sort, the pile of sheets, designatedA, is car-l ried on a base plate 65, supported on a vertically movablecarriage 66. The bottom of the carriage has longitudinal slots 67through which rollers 68 carried on the cross frame member 69 willproject to support the base plate 65, when the carriage 66 is in itslower position, to facilitate the removal of the base plate and itsreplacement by another -with a load of sheets.

The carriage 66 is provided with threaded bosses 70, through whichextend lifting screws 71 turning in suitable bearings in the side framemembers 72 of the feeding apparatus. These screws are provided at theirlower ends with bevel gears 73, 74 meshingwith bevel gears 75, 76 on ashaft 77 to which is fixed a ratchet wheel 78 adapted to be rotated by apawl 79 (Fig. 9) pivoted to a pawl carrier 80 oscillated on shaft 77 bymeans of an eccentric 81 (Fig. 12) on shaft 48 having a connecting rod82 articulated with one end of a lever 83 which is pivoted at 84 to theside frame member 72 of the A-fe'eding apparatus, the other end of lever83 being connected by link 85 with the pawl carrier 80. This much of thefeeding apparatus is not novel.

The improvements of this invention willnow be described. The sheets Aare raised singly fromthe stack by one or more vacuum cups 86 which arepreferably made of rubber or other resilient material, two beingindicated in the drawing. These cups are moved down into contact withthe upper sheet of the stack, the air exhausted from them, and the cupsthen raised carryingwith them the upper sheet, the rear-edge of which isengaged by a pair of hooks 87 on a sliding carriage,l the hooks beingmoved against the edge of the sheets and the sheets released from thevacuum cups by entrance of air into the latter, at about the same time.The hooks then push the sheet across table 26 until its '93, 94 on theside frame members of the machine. The transverse member 88 is held inany adjusted position on rods 90 by set screws i lteferring now to theleft hand sheet lifting unit, (Fig. 2) The vacuum cup 86 is secured to acircular pad 96 on a rocking member 97 (Fig. 7) pivoted by a pin 98 to aclevis member 99 havinga threaded opening to receive the lower end of aplunger 100 which extends slidably through a bore in a guide block 101attached by screws 102 to the transverse mem.- ber 88. A coiled spring103 is interposed between the under side of guide block 101 and theclevis member 99. Secured to the upper end of plunger 100 is an angularmember 104 carrying at its upper end a roller 105. This roller rests ona cam 106 fixed to a shaft-107 turning in bearings on brackets 108, 109,110 on the transverse member 88. The member 104 is slotted'at 111 forthe shaft 107 (Fig. 5).

The plunger 100 is formed with a bore 112 having a port 113 at its upperend which is open to the atmosphere when the plunger is in its upperposition. The rocking member 97 and a portion of the cup 86 engagedtherewith is formed with a duct 114 vand thisV duct is connected withthe lower end of bore 112 in plunger 100 by the flexible tube 115, theends of which extend over nipples 116 screwed into members 97, 99.

A pipe 117 (Fig. 2) is connected with an exhausting apparatus (notshown) and this pipe has a branch 118 leading to a port 119 extendingthrough the guide block 101 to the bore in which plunger 100reciprocates. Another branch pipe 120 leads from pipe 117 to the righthand unit of the lifting mechanism, as shown in Fig. 2. When the plungeris in its lower position, with cup 86 against the pile of sheets, port113 is in communication with the exhausting port 119. Since the downwardmovement of the plunger depends entirely upon gravity and the action ofspring 103, the plunger being merely released by the cam when the latteris turned to present its short' radius to roller 105, the plunger soreleased will move downwardly until it is stopped by the pile of sheets.However, the upper sheet of the stack must be at an elevation to bereached by the cup before the plunger reaches its lower limit ofpossible movement. On the other hand, the upper sheet of the stackcannot be at such an elevation as to prevent port 113 from being broughtinto communication with the exhausting port 119. Mechanism has to beprovided, therefore, for controlling the engagement vof pawl 79 withratchet 78 so as to maintain the upper surface of the stack within theoperative range of movement of the sheet lifting plunger as j ustdefined. This mechanism is as follows: l

Pivoted at 122 to the side frame member 72 of the feeding mechanism,above ratchet 78, is a pawl lifting lever 123 (Figs. 1 and 9) adapted tobear against the underside of the stud 124 011 the pawl 79. Connected tothe outer end of lever 123 is the stem 125 of a piston 126 operating ina cylinder 12.7-'se- .i l'137isso-placed that when the stack is raisedlin. they upper part `of. the operation range of' maarre is lprovided.with a transverse ort 137. The

valve 136 is secured to a brac et 138 on the an lar member 104 of therig-ht hand lifting unit shown in Fig. 2. rlhe transverse portvrhighenough so that ythe upper sheet is withl'novement: ofthev plunger,this' port is' not tothe level of'ports 131, 134. rl`hat. is, the cupencounters-and is stopped bythe pile beforeport 137 reaches ports 131,134.." At such time pavvl, lifter 123 holds pawl 79 out of engagementwith ratchet 78 and the table 66 remains stationary, As soon, however,as.

. theelevation 'of the upper surface of the stack lifter 123 to releasepawl 79 so that ratchet of sheets islowered so that 'it beginsvtoepproach thelower' limit of possiblemovement .of plungerslOO,port-137 of va1ve1136 isycarf `ried down far 'enough to connect-,ports131, 134, whereupon air is exhausted from cylin-v der 127 andatmospheric pressure overcomes the stress of spring 129, causing thepawl 7 8 'isturned to eleveate the table 66. As. soon as the table iselevated to a certain extent, port 137 .ceases on the down stroke of theplunger to conn-ect ports 131, 134, the vacuum is shut v0E from cylinder127 and the pressures within andwithout the cylinder are eqlpalized byleakage of air past piston 126.

v e lpawl lifter is therefore operated to disengage the pawl fromratchet 78 andthe upward movement ofthe table is stopped. f

Ports 113, 119 may either be made wide enough so that they alwaysoverlap', on the downstroke of the plunger, and the port 137 located sothat .the stack is kept atan elevason within rimas determined by thewidth.

f of these ports; or, Where the vacnunfi main 'tained is high enough.the machine may be designed so that port 113 will always, or at l thestack over table 26 to the printing press -feedl rollers 27 by means ofthe following mechanism:

vto the 'transverse member 88.

depressed Vat the'down stroke of the plunger A reciprocating frame isprovided comn prising a pair of longitudinal rods 139 c0n' nected by?.cross piece 140. The rods slide in guides 141 formed on brackets 141asecured The rods 139 carry, at their ends remote from the press, thehooks 87, above referred to, arranged to engage the rear edgesof thesheets. Preferably the sheets are tilted so as to elevate their rearedges as shown in Fig. 6. To accomplish this, member 97, above referredto-the member which supports the cup-is formed with a clevis 142 onwhich is secured by pivot pin 143 a tripping member 144, normallyheld invertical alignment with the clevis 142 by .a

leaf spring 145. .This tripping member 1s ada ted to engage, on theupward movement of tie sheets, with a block 146 on a bracket 147depending from the. transverse member 88. Eventually as the upwardmovement of.

the sheet proceeds the tripping member 144 is released. from block 146and returned to its normal position by spring 145. There is sudicientresiliency in the tubular connection 115 between the ports of plunger100 and cup 86 to return the cup to its horizontal position when thetripping member 144 is re'- member 88. Connected to link 149 at 152 is apush rod 153, the rear end of'which is slotted at 154 so as to beslidably guided on the shaft 107.` The push rod carries a roller 155which operates in a cam groove 156 of a cam wheel 157 fixed to shaft107. This shaft carries atfits outer end a sprocket Wheel 158 for adrive chain 159 extending around a sprocket 160 on a stub shaft 161turning in bearings ena-part 162 of bracket 92, (Fig. 3). The stub shaft1 61 carries at its opposite vend a bevel gear 163 meshing with a bevelpinion 164 on shaft 38. The transverse member 88 is adjustable bylowering set screws so as to adapt the machine to handling sheets ofvarious widths. This involves moving the frame 72 on the base 165 bymeans of pinions 166 and racks 167 andv other adjustments of the oldparts of the machineas indicated'.

Summary of operation: W'hen cams 106 are rotated to present the shortradius surfaces of the cams to rollers 105, springs 103 move the vacuumcups 86 down upon the pile of sheets A, the amplitude of the downwardmovement depending upon the height of the upper surface of the pile. Asthe height of the pile is diminished by removal of the sheets therefrom,the downward movements of the cups increase in amplitude untileventually port 137 of the valve 136 puts pipe 130 in communication withthe vacuum pipe 117, through pipe 135, whereupon air is exhausted fromcylinder 127 and pawl 7 9 is dropped into engagement with ratchet 78 tobring about the raising of the table 66 on which the stack of sheets issupported. When the stack has been raisefl to a certain extent theamplitude of the movements of the vacuum cups is shortened suiiicientlyto shut ofi' cylinder 127 from the vacuum and pawl lifter 123 isoperated to lift pawl 79 from engagement with ratchet 78, stopping theupward movement of table 66. The exhausting of the vacuum cups takesplace intermittently at each downward stroke of the cups, that is whenports 113 come into communication with ports 119. The air is admitted tothe .vacuum cups at the end of the upstrokes of pistons 100, that iswhen ports 113 clear the guide blocks 101.

At this time the hooks 87'on the slide rods 138 engage the rear edge ofthe sheet, this engagement taking place just before the sheet isreleased by the vacuum cups. and the sheet is then pushed over the table26 until its forward edge is engaged by the rollers 27, whereupon thesheet is fed into the printing press by feeding mechanisms shown, or anyother suitable apparatus for moving the sheets-into the press.

This application is a division of copending application of Joseph A.Johnson and George W. Chalmers, filed November 10, 1924, Serial No.749,088. No claim is made herein to the sheet lifting mechanism byitself or to the sheet lifting mechanism in combination with theforwarding hooks 87, as these combinations are claimed in the parentcase; the present application covering the mechanism for raising thepile of sheets with its control devices and the combination thereof withthe sheet lifting mechanism by which the raising of the support for thepile is controlled and with which it is synchronized so that theoperations 0f lifting the sheets from the pile and delivering them tothe feeding mechanisms of the printing press or elsewhere are madeautomatic.

Claims:

1.. In sheet feeding apparatus the combination of a support for a pileof sheets, sheet feeding mechanism comprising a vacuum cup adapted to beforced, yieldingly, down upon the upper sheet of the pile and means forexhausting the air from said cup, intermittently operated mechanism forraising said support, and Vacuum operated means for putting said lastnamed mechanism into and out of operation dependent upon the amplitudeof the movements necessary to bring said cup into contact with the pile.

2. In sheet feeding apparatus the combination of a support for a pile ofsheets, mechanism .for raising said support comprising a ratchet, pawland pawl carrier, means for continuously oscillating the pawl carrier, a

pawl lifter, and means for operating the pawl lifter comprising a vacuumcylinder and piston in said cylinder.

3. In sheet feeding apparatus the combination of a support for a pile ofsheets, and mechanism for raising said support comprising a ratchet, apawl provided with a laterally projecting stud, a pawl carrier, meansfor continuusly oscillating the pawl carrier, a pivoted pawl lifter overwhich said stud moves when the carrier is oscillated, and means forrocking the pawl lifter for moving said pawl into and out of engagementwith the ratchet.

4. In sheet feeding apparatus the combination of a support for a pile ofsheets, and mechanism for raising said support comprising a ratchet, apawl provided with a laterally projecting stud, a pawl carrier, meansfor continuously oscillating the pawl carrier, a pivoted pawl lifterover which said stud moves when the carrier is oscillated, and means forrocking the pawl lifter for moving said pawl into and out of engagementwith the ratchet comprising a vacuumvcylinder and piston in saidcylinder with which said pawl lifter is connected.

5. In sheet feeding apparatus the combination of a support for a pile ofsheets, mechanism for raising said support comprising a ratchet, pawland pawl carrier, means for continuously oscillating the pawl carrier, apawl lifter, means for operating the pawl lifter comprising a vacuumcylinder and piston in said cylinder. mechanism for lifting sheets fromsaid pile and means actuated thereby for controlling the exhaustion ofair from said vacuum cylinder.

6. In sheet feeding apparatus the combination of a support for a pile ofsheets; sheet lifting mechanism comprising a vacuum cup, a verticallymovable plunger to which the cup is attached having a duct communicatingwith the interior of the cup, a cam for raising said plunger, a springfor moving -the plunger downwardly to bring the cup into Contact withthe pile of sheets, and an exhausting pipe, said duct having a port incommunication with the atmosphere when the plunger is raised and withlsaid exhausting pipe when the plunger is lowered; mechanism forintermittently raising said support; and means for putting said supportraising mechanism into and out of operation comprising a vacuum actuateddevice and a valvel opthe pawl, a pawl lifter anda vacuum actu-A ateddevice for controlling the pawl lifter; sheet lifting mechanismcomprising a plunger, a vacuum cup on the plunger, the latter formedwitha duct communicating with the cup, a guide block through which theplunger 1s slidably formed with an exhausting port 5 with which the ductin the plunger communicates when the plunger is lowered, said duct beingopen to the atmosphere when the plunger is raised, a cam to raise theplunger and a spring operating on the plunger to force 10 the cuvagainst the pile ofsheets; a valve block aving a bore, an exhaustingport and a port oppositely arranged thereto and communicatmglwith saidfvacuumoperate'd device; and a valve supported on said plunger 15 havinga transverse port adapted to put said `last named two ports incommunication when, through removal of. the sheets from the pile 'theamplitude of downward movements o the plunger is increased. m MARK M..HENNESSY,

E'eoutor of the Estate of Joseph A. Jaimson, Deceased. a

GEORGE W. CHALMERS.

